Philadelphia 76ers Removing Nerlens Noel From Rotation
The Philadelphia 76ers have decided to bench forward Nerlens Noel for the foreseeable future.
The Philadelphia 76ers have a logjam in their frontcourt. There aren’t enough minutes to go around for the players on the team. Making a trade would be a logical way to go about alleviating that logjam.
Trade rumors have swirled for a while around Nerlens Noel and Jahlil Okafor. Earlier this season it was rumored that the Toronto Raptors had tried to land Noel to help replace Bismack Biyombo.
The Boston Celtics were in the market for Okafor as well, but the asking price for the 76ers was too high for the Celtics’ liking.
Joel Embiid was never mentioned in trade talks and for good reason. Unlike Noel and Okafor, who have limitations on one end of the court, Embiid is a difference maker offensively and defensively. He has flashed those skills throughout the season thus far despite being on a strict minutes limit.
The Brooklyn Nets saw this first hand.
Despite his limitations right now, Embiid has the highest ceiling of any of the big men. His role is set in stone, but the same cannot be said for Okafor and Noel.
While a trade would be the best way to find playing time for all parties involved, there is another route that you can take; benching a player.
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That seems to be the route that Brett Brown and the 76ers are going to take. Brown said prior to the 76ers game against the Nets that Noel would only play if an unforeseen issue, such as foul trouble, arose.
In other words, Noel was being removed from the rotation for the foreseeable future.
Noel was already unhappy with his role on the team. After recovering from his knee surgery, Noel made his season debut last week against the Detroit Pistons. He played only 10 minutes in the game, as he sprained his ankle.
He missed the following game against the Raptors and then played only eight minutes against the Los Angeles Lakers.
This peeved Noel, who ranted to reporters following the game against the Lakers on Friday. He said he was too good to be playing only eight minutes in a game and it was something that needed to be figure out.
That rant came prior to Noel talking to his head coach about his role. Noel came out of the meeting with respect for Brown, saying that the coach kept it real with him so he respects him more.
It is unclear if the benching was discussed in that meeting, but Noel is trying to take the high road. Noel shared his thoughts on the benching prior to the game against the Nets, saying:
“A lot of people know it was going to get to a point like this. … I’m going to deal with it the best way possible. That just means being a professional and getting better at every aspect that doesn’t involve being on the court and in the game.”
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It was a move that drew more questions from the media following the 76ers victory over the Nets. Brown was asked how he felt about benching Noel, and it sounds like he feels no remorse, as he actually mentioned another player he feels worse for.
“I feel worse for Richaun (Holmes),” he answered, per Rich Hofmann of phillyvoice.com. “I think that when I put my human hat on and then you go coach a team, make decisions, show leadership, that stands out to me as much as anything. Nerlens missed everything. … He hasn’t been a part of us.”
Richaun Holmes has played in 21 games this season but his minutes are far from consistent. But, unlike Noel, Holmes has been with the team since Day 1, as Brown points out.
At this point in time, Brown feels it is best to concentrate on the development of Embiid and Okafor. He did make sure that people knew there were no hard feelings towards Noel, saying:
“I’ve spoken freely about my fondness for Nerlens Noel. We will coach him and I will help him and what that means, we won’t see on the floor.”
While Noel will be sidelined, for now, Brown did leave the door open for a return to the rotation down the line. He said his mind could change once Noel gets more practices under his belt and gets on the same page with his teammates.
It is a move rarely seen by a coach, benching a young, promising player. The 76ers have done what they believe is the best move for the team. But, a trade will ultimately be the best way to fix the problem they have in the frontcourt.
